Exercise cycle

ABSTRACT

An exercise cycle is disclosed as having a base member that anchors and supports a vertical frame, a transmission mechanism, a cam mechanism, a seat and seat support, and pedals. The vertical frame includes a vertical supporting member mounted to the base member, and a vertical support extending upwardly from the vertical supporting member. The cam mechanism has two sides and one pedal is connected to each side. When a user pushes on the pedals, the cam mechanism rotates. The cam rotation surface conveys the motion to a standing support pulley and yoke pulley causing it to rotate. The yoke in turn conveys the motion to the seat support causing the seat to move up and down. The cam mechanism serves to provide an overall coordination and balance of the exercise cycle.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The preferred embodiment of the invention pertains to an exercise cycle,particularly pertaining to a cycling exercise fitness equipment.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Fitness apparatuses are steadily gaining momentum in usage andpracticality amid improved quality of living, reduced leisure time andlimited access to nature. Consequently, more urbanites are turning togyms to exercise and are using fitness devices to get their exercise.Most fitness devices have been designed along the principle of imitatingthe mechanical movement principle and combining it with the basicelements of certain exercise routines. However they fail to take intoaccount the actual scenarios of outdoor exercising.

For example, conventional fitness devices that are designed to imitatethe bicycling sport often focus on exercising the leg muscles but do nottake into account body coordination and balance. Under the treacherousconditions of bicycling these prior art devices are unable to coordinateother body parts to exercise concurrently other parts of the human body.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An objective of the invention is to provide an exercise cycle that hasan additional element of a cam mechanism, which not only offers tangiblecycling functions to help achieve a body-wide exercising yield, but alsoprovides training of the leg and waist muscles for coordinating thebalance of all body parts and achieving a body-wide exercise yield.

The present invention offers a body-wide exercise yield that not onlyprovides the user with adequate exercise but also helps to achieve anoverall bodily coordination and balance.

In addressing the need for achieving a maximum body-wide exerciseresult, the invention aims to provide a fitness device that bears aclose facsimile to bicycling to satisfy the need of a body-wideexercise.

The objective of the invention serves to devise an exercise cycle, inwhich said exercise cycle attempts to reconfigure the existing fitnessdevices by adding a cam mechanism, which not only offers tangiblecycling functions to help achieve a body-wide exercising yield, but alsoprovides training the leg and waist muscles for coordinating the balanceof all body parts.

The characteristics of the preferred embodiment the invention proposeslies in that the exercise cycle's cam mechanism is supported by thesupporting member extended upward from the base, with pedals connectedto the two sides, where the pedals convey the cam mechanism to rotate,and convey also the vertical support and the seat in an up-down motion;with a pulley extended downward from the lower part of the verticalsupport, the pulley is made to contact the cam mechanism's cam rotationsurface to rotate alongside the cam rotation surface, which in turndrives the vertical support to a up-down motion. At the same time, thecam rotation surface is made to contact the yoke pulley, which islocated at the tip of the yoke, with the yoke anchored by the supportingmember extended from the base member, and the other side of the yokeanchors the inner coupling support. While the inner coupling supportanchors the seat above, the cam mechanism's rotation conveys the yoke tomove, propelling the seat to move up and down.

The invention operates on the premises of reconfiguring the basicstructure of a simulated cycling motion that not only providing legmuscle exercising yield, but also combining the actual state of cyclingmotions in instilling the exercise cycle to offer up-down motions forachieving waist muscle and body-wide exercising yield, as well as bodilycoordination and balancing yield.

The preferred embodiment the invention proposes is not only easy tomanufacture, requiring no complicated pars, but also conserves theproduction cost, and highly maneuverable by the user.

As an alternative, a resistance sheet may be added to the transmissionmechanism's flywheel to increase the exercise resistance, where theresistance sheet is connected to the adjusting device, which serves tocontrol the flywheel's propensity to achieve a varied degree ofresistance increase yield, or other forms of resistance may also beadded. In short, the configuration of the foresaid resistance sheet canbe coordinated to a fully magnetized or semi-magnetizedelectromechanical system, wherein the configuration of the foresaidresistance sheet serves to provide the user with the choice of a numberof exercising volumes, particularly for adjusting it at will when a userdesires to increase the exercise volume in order to achieve a desiredexercising volume, with options to adjust through the sensor formonitoring the exercising speed and resistance, as well as tabulatingthe amount of exercise and prompting the same on the display panel toinform the user.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a side and rear perspective view of an exercise cycleaccording to the present invention; and

FIG. 2 is a partially exploded side and rear perspective view of theexercise cycle of FIG. 1, with some parts removed.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

As depicted in FIG. 1, the preferred embodiment the invention pertainsto an exercise cycle, which is comprised of the components of a basemember 6, vertical support 1, cam mechanism 55, seat 21, and pedal 31,wherein the supporting member 61, 62 extended upward from the basemember 6 serve to anchor and brace the transmission mechanism 55,vertical support 1, cam mechanism 3 and yoke 4.

The main structure of the exercise cycle serves to reconfigure thepedals 31 connected to two sides of the cam mechanism 3, where thepedals 31 convey the cam mechanism 3 to rotate, and that the rotation ofthe cam mechanism 3 in turn conveys the vertical support 1 and seat 21,which allows the exercise cycle to train the leg muscles and providesphysical up-down motions to train the user's waist muscles, coordinationand balance.

Tangibly put, with the vertical support 1 divided into two parts, thelower part of the vertical support pertains to the supporting support51, and the upper part of the vertical support 14 is inserted into thesupporting support 51, and made to connect with the pulley 15, wherewhen the pulley is extended downward and conveyed by the pedals, the camrotation surface 32 on the came mechanism 3 where the pulley 15 comes tocontact will rotate alongside the same to propel the vertical support 1in up-down motions; a cross piece 16 is configured to the side of thepulley 15, and a spring 17 is configured to the front of the cross piece16, with the other end of the spring 17 connected to the spring mount 52extended from the side of the supporting member 62, where as the pulleyascends as propelled by the cam would revert to its previous position aspulled by the spring 17 to maintain a steady contact with the cam.

With the seat up-down motions driven by the yoke 4, an inner couplingsupport 2 is configured on the lower part of the seat 221, wherein theseat 21 and the inner coupling support 2 can be adjusted through theadjustment bolt 22 and position pin 23 to determine the height of theseat 21, and the inner coupling support 2 is inserted into the outercoupling support 54; the outer coupling support 54 is mounted onto thebase member 6, with strip opening 56 is configured on top of which,while the lower part of the inner coupling support 2 is connected to thebase mount pulley 24, which when extended laterally through the outercoupling support 54's opening 56 serves to regulate the up-downmovements along the direction of the opening.

The yoke 4 is configured on the base member 6's supporting member 63,with one end containing the yoke pulley 41, which when driven by thepedal, the yoke pulley 41 makes contact with the cam mechanism 3's camrotation surface, and the center of the yoke 4 is anchored onto thesupporting member 63 with the position pin inserted through the positionpin hole 53. And the other end of the yoke 4 is configured with asupporting elements 42, which is used to anchor the inner couplingsupport 2's base mount pulley 42, which when in motion, the cam pulley 3rotates to convey the yoke 4, propelling the seat 21 to move in anup-down motion.

Two openings 56 on the outer coupling support 54 are configured to thecorresponding two sides of the outer coupling support 54 to interceptwith the two base mount cams 24, which are extended through the twoopenings 56. As depicted in FIG. 2, the yoke 4's supporting element 42is in a forked configuration, where the fork is made to anchor two basemount pulleys 24 to achieve a stable supporting yield.

To increase the stability of the exercise cycle's anchoring structure,particularly the stability of the vertical support 1 and seat, aconnecting piece 5 is configured between the supporting support 512 andouter coupling support 54, and two ends of the connecting piece 5 areanchored onto the supporting support 51 and outer coupling support 54,respectively.

With a handle bar 11 and display panel 12 configured on top of thevertical support, the handle bar 11 provides grip to the user whenexercising, and the display panel 12 is connected to a sensor fordetecting and tabulating the exercise speed and magnitude of resistance,and prompting the figures through the display screen to remind the userto moderate an adequate amount of exercise.

With position pin 13 and matching pin hole configured between the uppervertical support 14 and supporting support 51, when the pulley 15located in the lower part of the upper vertical support is lifted todetach from the cam, the cam 15 will surpass the upper vertical support14 and supporting support 51 the position pin 13 anchors. Concurrently,with position pin 23 and matching pin hole also configured between theinner coupling support 2 and outer coupling support 54, when the basemount cam 24 located in the lower part of the inner coupling support 2is lifted to detach from the yoke 4, the base mount cam 24 will surpassthe outer coupling support 54 and inner coupling support 2 anchored bythe position pin 23, which serve to disengage the up-down motionsconveyed by the cam, allowing the exercise cycle to provide whatconventional fitness devices do for exercising the leg muscles.

As an alternative in design, resistant sheet serving to increaseexercise resistance can be incorporated in the flywheel of thetransmission mechanism 55, where the resistant sheet is connected to theadjustment device, which controls the flywheel's propensity to achieveincreasing a varied degree of resistance, or resistance sheet of adifferent structural mode can be configured. In short, by coordinatingthe foresaid resistance device containing resistance sheet with a fullymagnetized or semi-magnetized system, the foresaid resistance deviceserves to provide the user with chose of a number of exercise volumes,particularly in providing adjustment according to circumstances when auser's desiring to increase the exercise volume to achieve a desiredexercising yield.

When operating the movement cycle the invention proposes, the user rideson the seat 21, with feet inserted into the pedals 31, and forcefullyexert force onto the pedals 31 to convey the cam to rotate, where thecam rotation surface 32 engages the pulley 15 and yoke pulley 41 todrive the vertical support 1 and seat 21 in a up-down motion, allowingthe exercise cycle to not only train the leg muscles but also offerbody-wide exercising yield. At the same time, it also allows the user toachieve physical coordination and anatomical balance. To undo theup-down motion, simply disengage the vertical support and the seat fromthe transmission mechanism and the came respectively to obtain a lateralcycling effect.

While the invention has been particularly shown and described withreference to a particular embodiment, it will be appreciated thatvarious of the above-disclosed and other features and functions, oralternatives thereof, may be desirably combined into many otherdifferent systems or applications. Also that various presentlyunforeseen and unanticipated alternatives, modifications, variations, orimprovements therein may be subsequently made by those skilled in theart which are also intended to be encompassed by the following claims.Although the invention has been described with reference to specificpreferred embodiments, it is not intended to be limited thereto, ratherthose having ordinary skill in the art will recognize that variationsand modifications may be made therein which are within the spirit of theinvention and within the scope of the claims.

1. An exercise cycle, which is comprised of a base member, a verticalsupport, a seat mounted on the vertical support, a transmission member,and at least one pedal, of which the vertical support extends upwardlyfrom the base member and is anchored thereto and braced by a yoke; and acam mechanism having two sides and supported by a supporting memberextending upwardly from the base member, with the pedal extendingoutwardly from a corresponding side of said cam mechanism, said cammember being operationally connected by the transmission mechanism tosaid vertical support such that a rotation of the pedal causes the cammechanism to rotate, and the cam mechanism in turn conveys motion to thevertical support and seat to cause the seat to move up and down.
 2. Theexercise cycle as claimed in claim 1, wherein the vertical support andcam mechanism are connected through a pulley extended down from thevertical support, which contacts with a cam rotation surface of the cammechanism.
 3. The exercise cycle as claimed in claim 2, wherein with thevertical support is divided into two parts, a lower part of the verticalsupport is mounted to the base member, and the upper part of thevertical support is inserted into the supporting support and makescontact with the pulley.
 4. The exercise cycle as claimed in claim 3,wherein with a position pin and pin hole configured between the uppervertical support and the base member, the position pin anchors thevertical support and supporting support through the pin hole and alsoconfigured between the inner coupling support and outer couplingsupport, the position pin anchors the outer coupling support and innercoupling support through the pin hole.
 5. The exercise cycle as claimedin claim 2, wherein a connecting piece is configured to the side of thepulley, the front of the connecting piece is connected to a spring, andthe other end of the spring is connected to a spring mount extended fromthe side of the supporting member.
 6. The exercise cycle as claimed inclaim 5, wherein the height of the seat can be adjusted through anadjustment bolt and position pin located between the seat and the innercoupling support.
 7. The exercise cycle as claimed in claim 5, whereinwith the inner coupling support inserted into the outer couplingsupport, the outer coupling support is mounted onto the base member, onwhich there is strip-configured opening; and the lower part of the innercoupling support is connected to the base mount pulley, where the basemount pulley extends laterally through the opening of the outer couplingsupport to carry out the up-down motions along the direction of the holeopening.
 8. The exercise cycle as claimed in claim 7, wherein there aretwo openings on the outer coupling support which are located on twosides corresponding to the outer coupling support, and two base mountpulleys, which are extended through the two openings of the outercoupling support, while the yoke's supporting element, a forkedstructure, has the fork extended to anchor the two base mount pulleys.9. The exercise cycle as claimed in claim 7, wherein with position pinand pin hole configured between the upper vertical support and the basemember, the position pin anchors the vertical support and base memberthrough the pin hole; at the same time, with position pin and pin holealso configured between the inner coupling support and outer couplingsupport, the position pin anchors the outer coupling support and innercoupling support through the pin hole.
 10. The exercise cycle as claimedin claim 9, wherein a connecting piece is configured between the basemember and other telescoping support, with its two ends anchoringseparately onto the supporting support and outer telescoping support.11. The exercise cycle as claimed in claim 1, wherein the verticalsupport contains a handle bar and display panel. Said display panel isconnected to a sensor.
 12. The exercise cycle as claimed in claim 1,wherein a resistance sheet serving to increase the exercise resistancecan be added to the transmission mechanism's flywheel, in which theresistance sheet is connected to an adjustment device, where theadjustment device serves to control the resistance of the flywheel toachieve a varied degree in the resistance yield, or a resistance devicein other types of configuration mode can also be configured.
 13. Theexercise cycle as claimed in claim 1, wherein the cam mechanism's camrotation surface is made to contact the yoke pulley, which is configuredto the tip of the yoke, a supporting element on the other end of theyoke is made to anchor the inner coupling support, and the top part ofthe inner coupling support is connected to the seat.